Angela Lansbury speaks of lifelong love of Ireland

February 24, 2016

Star of stage and screen Angela Lansbury was honoured in Dublin with a lifetime achievement award for her acting career this week

The English actress, widely known for playing detective Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote received the Volta award in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre as part of the Audi Dublin International Film Festival. Thousands of people attended to pay tribute to the 90-year-old actress.

“I’m here every year. I have a house down in Cork. I couldn’t bear not having a house in Ireland, so we came back.

“I fell in love with Ireland when I was nine. My grandmother, Cissy McIldowie, came to Cork from Northern Ireland every year for her holidays. After my father died, my mother brought us to Ireland in the summer. I spend part of every single year in Ireland.

“Achill is one of my favourites. It was the first place I visited in Ireland as a child,” she said.

“I never forgot it and I always go back. I go back to all the old haunts. I am an Irish-British actress.”

Ms Lansbury, who recently performed on stage in London’s West End was given presents by some enthusiastic fans outside the auditorium.

The cosy atmosphere was jarred when outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who presented the actress with her Lifetime Achievement Award, was booed by members of the audience.